This page contains content from the 2007–08 academic year. For current information, visit the Harvard Extension School website at www.extension.harvard.edu.
Enrollment and Residency
Prospective candidates are not allowed to count more than three courses toward the ALM degree before their bachelor’s degrees have been earned. They are not allowed to enroll in the program with the aim of completing all requirements within one calendar year, nor may they receive credit for more than four courses per term. No more than five distance education courses may be counted toward the degree. Students are expected to spend at least two semesters in residence at Harvard Extension School or Harvard Summer School. In some fields for which the graduate offerings may be available only intermittently (such as Celtic languages and literatures; foreign literature, language, and culture; history of science; and linguistics), students should not expect to complete the degree in less than three years after admission.
A student cannot be enrolled as a candidate in more than one Harvard Extension School degree or certificate program at the same time.
ALM credit is not awarded for any course that duplicates the subject matter of a previous course taken at the Extension School for which undergraduate or graduate credit has already been received, either for the purpose of satisfying a degree requirement or to be counted in the GPA. The only exception to this policy is for the literature and creative writing concentration. In this field, courses can be repeated once if they are designated with an r.
Students may count a maximum of 8 credits from a Summer School study abroad program toward ALM degree requirements.
Five-Year Limit
Students are expected to complete all requirements for the degree, including the thesis, within five years after the date of completion of the third ALM course. If the application is delayed, the five-year limit is determined by the number of requirements yet to be fulfilled. Students unable to complete the degree within the five-year limit are retired from the program.
